Glen Waverley Primary School Level 3 Newsletter

Level 3 - Term Three

Welcome back to Term 3, and a very warm welcome to the new families who have joined us this term at GWPS. We hope you and your families have had a wonderful, relaxing break and are ready for another term of learning. We have been really impressed by the students’ positive attitudes and ability to quickly adjust back to their learning after their break.

 

 Term 3 will again bring many highlights and has started on a huge positive note with the students sharing their incredible learning from Semester One during their Student Led Conferences. Their ability to articulate and share their learning, knowledge and growth with their families was tremendous to witness and all of their teachers were incredibly proud of them. 

 

 We are all looking forward to a very productive and rigorous term of learning. Please see below the important dates for the term and what content we will be teaching within each subject area. 

 

 If at any time you would like to speak to your child's teacher, or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send them an email. 

 

- The Level Three team. 

 

Important Dates

  • 4th August - New families afternoon tea 
  • 9th August – Digital Technology
  • 10th August - Writing
  • 16th August - English
  • 23rd August - Science
  • 24th August – Spelling Bee
  • 30th August – Mathematics 
  • 31st August – 2nd September – Father's Day stall 
  • 16th October – Last Day of Term 3, 2:30pm finish 

Reading

This term, our students will be trialling our new CAFE (Reading) menu and utilising the new reading strategies to set goals. They will be learning about poetry, letters and emails. The students will compare and contrast texts, determine the author’s purpose, create mental images and tune into interesting and emotive language. 

 

As part of the Level Three Home Reading program, it is an expectation that students read for fifteen minutes each night and record this in their diaries. It would be wonderful if you could support your child’s reading and assist them with their comprehension by discussing the book with them. The following questions are a great way to start a conversation:

  • “What emotions is the character feeling? How do you know?”
  • “As you were reading, what pictures did you create in your mind?”
  • “What connections did you make to the book?”
  • “What did you learn from the book?”

Writing

 In the beginning of Term Three, we will be focusing on Poetry. Throughout this unit, students will learn about the “tools” of poetry such as figurative language, rhyme and sensory imagery.  They will deepen their capacities to express their emotions and describe their thoughts. They will also learn about the rules and structure of different types of poems. During the second half this term, we will be developing a deeper understanding into the purpose, language features and structure of Letters and Emails. Students will explore how to compose different types of letters and emails, both formal and informal.

 

To support your child at home, you may find the following tasks helpful:

  • Asking your child(ren) to describe something they saw, heard or felt and encourage them to use figurative language when describing.
  • Write letters/emails to relatives and friends with authentic purposes.

Spelling

 In Spelling, students will continue to expand their vocabulary through our weekly spelling focus and their personalised words. Each week we will explicitly teach a spelling strategy covering either a sound, a spelling pattern or meaning. This term, our main foci will be three-letter clusters such as ‘thr’ and ‘spl’, homophones, irregular plurals, irregular past tense and rhyming words. These spelling focuses may be adjusted throughout the term to cater to the needs of our students.

 

Speaking and Listening

This term, our students will be given opportunities to develop their speaking and listening skills. They will be taught the skills that a presenter (speaker) and audience member (listener) demonstrate. Students will demonstrate their speaking and listening skills by: 

  • ‘Turning and talking’ during class discussions
  • Collaborating with their peers
  • Presenting their own poetry
  • Listening to their peers’ poetry presentations 
  • Sharing their Home Learning through oral presentations
  • Delivering feedback and feedforward on their learning and presentations 
  • Contributing their ideas to classroom discussions

Mathematics

In Mathematics, we will begin Term Three learning by focusing on the domain of Number and Algebra where the students will deepen their knowledge and understanding of Fractions, Decimals, Money and Finance. As we move through the term, students will begin their Measurement and Geometry unit of learning by exploring Shapes, Mass, Volume and Capacities. As we begin each unit of learning, student will start by orientating themself with the topic specific vocabulary. This ensures our students have the language to explain and justify their thinking. Throughout each unit, we will continue to upskill our students by developing their strategies through the proficiencies of Problem Solving, 

 

Understanding, Reasoning and Fluency (SURF). The student will engage in a range of hands-on and rich learning tasks that challenges their thinking and will allow them to practise a range of strategies to solve the equation. We will continue to have regular group/individual conferences with our students to set and track the progress on their SURF goal.

 

To support your child at home, you may find the following tasks helpful:

  • Utilising fractions to measure ingredients when cooking Eg: ½ cup of flour. 
  • Asking your child to make a fraction with their toys or snack Eg: Can you show me half of your sandwich. 
  • Opportunities to see physical money being used Eg: groceries shopping, local market, counting spare coins. 
  • Completing the weekly mathematics Home Learning task

Inquiry  

Term Three Inquiry will see our children exploring the question ‘How did European settlement affect the Indigenous community?’ They will develop an understanding of the different aspects of the First Peoples culture and the many ancient traditions they held. Our students will reflect on the situation of the poor and the powerful in England in the 1700’s and will build an understanding of their society. The colonisation of Australia will be analysed and students will research the events that led to the Stolen Generation and its lasting effects. It is essential that by the end of this term our students will have a thorough understanding of the First Peoples culture and how we show our appreciation and respect to them today.  

 

By the end of Term Three, children should be able to… 

  • Create a sequence of events that detail the arrival and colonisation of Australia 
  • Explain cultural similarities and differences between the British and the First People of Australia
  • Understand the importance of The Land to the First People
  • Reflect on how we show appreciation and respect to First People and their culture.

YCDI 

In YCDI, students will be exploring a range of different emotions and will learn how to manage these themselves. Learners will work through real-life scenarios and create role plays where they can show strategies they could use when feeling different emotions. Collaboration will also be a focus this term, where students will be enabled to work together, showing a range of skills that promote successful partnerships.